


Something a Little Sweeter

by DeskGirl



Series: Pair of Aces [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Asexual Character, Asexual Relationship, Drinking, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Making Out, Miscommunication, POV Jesse McCree, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-13
Packaged: 2019-08-22 20:05:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16604627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeskGirl/pseuds/DeskGirl
Summary: In the several months that they’ve been dating, McCree has never invited Hanzo into his room or asked to come over to Hanzo’s place. When Hanzo asks to have drinks with him in private, McCree thinks he knows where things are headed, and he’s not sure what to do about it.





	Something a Little Sweeter

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to [b_ofdale](https://archiveofourown.org/users/b_ofdale/pseuds/b_ofdale). I've wanted to write something like this ever since they asked me what I thought of ace mchanzo.  
> Please enjoy this little bit of self-indulgent wish fulfillment.

“You did not have to wait up for me,” Hanzo said.

Jesse smiled, warm and easy. “I know that, but I wanted to.”

It was nearly two in the morning, and Hanzo, Genji, and Lena had just returned from their inspection of Watchpoint Reykjavik to see if it was still viable for use. They’d had more luck than anyone expected: the U.N. had shut the Iceland watchpoint down, but hadn’t bothered to clear out any of the equipment, so with a little work the old base could be up and running again in a few weeks. It was an unexpected boon, considering the limited resources Overwatch was operating with at the moment.

By all accounts Jesse should be asleep right now. He’d spent all day helping Winston and Reinhardt reorganize store rooms in the lower level to make space, and he knew he was going to feel it in the morning. He needed to rest, but he just couldn’t settle down knowing Hanzo would be back tonight.

Hanzo had been gone two weeks: the longest they’d been apart since Jesse asked Hanzo out on their first date several months ago. Jesse was a little embarrassed over how giddy he felt seeing Hanzo step off the Aurora. The flush of warmth that had crept up his neck and across his cheeks was still with him as they walked down the dim hallway together. Maybe he shouldn’t be quite so self-conscious, though, considering it was Hanzo who laced his fingers with Jesse’s prosthetic hand unprompted as they walked through the base. Jesse couldn’t feel it nearly as well as his other hand, but the thought alone of Hanzo’s hand in his gave him butterflies in his stomach.

Jesse’s door came into view, and they slowed down, both clearly loathing the idea of being apart so soon.

“Want me t’ walk you to your room?” Jesse offered, gesturing with his head farther down the hall.

Hanzo’s gaze flitted between Jesse’s door and the end of the hallway. His brow furrowed, and he pressed his lips together in thought. “I’m not quite ready to return to my quarters,” Hanzo said slowly.

“You sure? You gotta be awful tired after your trip.” Jesse’s voice spoke of concern, but in all honesty he didn’t want Hanzo to leave yet either. His fingers flexed around Hanzo’s hand.

“Not so tired that I cannot spend a little time with you. I was thinking, if it is not an inconvenience, that you might share a drink with me.” Hanzo’s words were measured, and his tone was gently probing. He looked meaningfully at Jesse’s door.

Jesse felt the butterflies in his stomach turn cold and settle down low in his gut. He’d known when he first asked Hanzo out that it’d lead to this eventually, but he had hoped he could put it off a while longer.

Jesse had never let Hanzo into his room before. He’d been particular about that. He knew where things tended to go when someone “came over for a drink,” and frankly, he wasn’t interested. Never had been.

The problem was he hadn’t exactly told Hanzo that when they started dating, and far be it from Jesse to act the coward, but he wasn’t sure he could tell him now. He liked what they had, and he didn’t want it to end because Hanzo was expecting something out of this relationship that Jesse wasn’t. So instead he’d avoided any situation where Hanzo might get the wrong idea. He was careful not to let Hanzo into his room, he didn't share hotel beds or tents, and no matter how inviting Hanzo might be on the nights they found themselves saying good-bye at Hanzo’s door, Jesse always found a way to excuse himself.

But now Hanzo was asking to come in and have drinks, and he’d been gone two weeks, and Jesse really did miss him. Would it be so awful to give a little ground for Hanzo’s sake?

Jesse swallowed thickly and bobbed his head in a nod that felt mechanical. “I don’t see any reason to say no,” he relented.

Hanzo frowned and looked away. “As I said, if it is an inconvenience—”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I can always make time for you.” Jesse pulled Hanzo in and ducked to give him a reassuring kiss. There was still a novelty in being able to do that. Jesse must have kissed Hanzo a hundred times by now, but it still felt like the first time.

When Jesse met Hanzo over a year ago, he hadn’t imagined he’d ever come to even like the man, let alone want to wrap his arms around him like this. But as they worked alongside each other, they’d fallen into a comfortable sort of companionship. They drew out the best qualities in one another and supported each other when the ghosts of their pasts rose up to haunt them.

With camaraderie came unexpected affection. Jesse found himself craving the quiet moments that he shared with Hanzo. For a while that was enough. Then he started craving Hanzo’s smiles and his soft laughter. Jesse knew, even as he went out of his way to draw those smiles out, that he was playing with fire. He finally realized he didn't stand a chance when he started craving those brief moments when either he or Hanzo became careless, and their hands found the other’s shoulder or arm or knee; it felt so natural that Jesse wouldn’t even notice it’d happened until afterwards when he found himself missing the contact.

For some reason Jesse had assumed those cravings would ease once he started dating Hanzo. But there it was now: that desire. A bone-deep ache to be close to Hanzo, like a sunflower turning to catch the rays of the sun.

If Hanzo wanted to come over for drinks, Jesse could let him have that. And if Hanzo wanted more… Jesse supposed he could muddle through that, too, for him.

Jesse punched in his access code and drew Hanzo along by the hand.

“Sorry if it’s kinda messy,” Jesse apologized as he shut the door behind Hanzo. He wasn’t a slob, but it was rather obvious he hadn’t cleaned up after himself that morning. There were discarded clothes at the foot of the bed, holopads and food wrappers scattered on the desk, and the closet was wide open. Jesse noticed Hanzo look in that direction and wondered what he thought of Jesse’s obvious preference for plaids. Well, it wasn’t like he didn’t already know. It was just far more obvious seeing his clothes all in one place, looking like a plaid rainbow on hangers.

Hanzo gave a little shake of his head. “It feels lived in.”

“That’s certainly a nice way of putting it,” Jesse said with a laugh.

Hanzo’s hand slid up Jesse’s arm to squeeze just above his prosthesis. “I missed you.” The way Hanzo said it just about knocked the air out of Jesse’s lungs. He said it softly and with a kind of sincerity that spoke directly to the aching that had plagued Jesse’s heart for days now as he waited for the mission to be over.

Jesse settled his hands on Hanzo’s sides and pulled him close. He felt Hanzo resist for just a moment before he gave in, melting against Jesse’s chest. That was one of Jesse’s favorite things: the both of them were rough, stubborn, and made up of more sharp edges than soft, but if he held Hanzo like this—just like this—then they fit together like they were made for each other.

“I missed you, too.”

Jesse brushed his lips against Hanzo’s temple. He felt hands wrap around the back of his neck, and let Hanzo pull him down for a kiss. After the first and second “I missed you, how dare you be gone so long” kisses, Jesse sought out the corners of Hanzo’s mouth, attempting to place featherlight kisses there, but Hanzo’s lips chased his. He finally relented and let Hanzo have what he wanted.

Hanzo’s hands settled on Jesse’s shoulders, holding him in place, and his mouth was firm against Jesse’s to the point of being forceful.

There was no backing down from this, Jesse realized. He couldn’t just change his mind all of a sudden, tell Hanzo to rein it in, and send him off to his own room. It wouldn’t be fair to Hanzo, and he clearly needed the company right now.

Jesse let out a soft sigh through his nose, ignored the clenching of his gut, and slid his hands down Hanzo’s sides. His fingers rubbed at Hanzo’s hips as he leaned into the kisses, trying to return Hanzo’s enthusiasm. If he focused on making this nice for Hanzo, then at least he could get a little something out of this, too.

Hanzo seemed surprised and leaned back a bit before holding still and letting Jesse take charge. Jesse was quietly grateful as he felt Hanzo’s mouth finally go soft against his; it would be easier to do this if Hanzo worked with him.

Jesse hooked his thumbs into the waistband of Hanzo’s pants.

Hanzo’s hands clamped down suddenly on Jesse’s wrists, squeezing tight. “Stop.”

Jesse froze.

“Something wrong?” he asked hesitantly.

Hanzo ducked his head. His hands were steel bands around Jesse’s wrists, holding him fast. “I cannot do this.”

“Pardon?” Jesse could hardly force the word out, what with how his heart had taken up residence in his throat. Just a minute ago Hanzo had said he missed him. Had he only been saying it for Jesse’s sake? Jesse wanted to tell himself that was ridiculous, but he had strung Hanzo along for a while now without putting out. Maybe today was a day too late, and Hanzo was done with him. Jesse barely breathed as he waited for an explanation.

Hanzo gave his head a little shake, and he opened and closed his mouth a couple times as he struggled to find the words he wanted. He stared at Jesse’s chest as he finally spoke: “I believed that I could do this. I convinced myself on the plane ride back that I would try. You have been so patient with me, taking things slow all this time and not pushing me for more than I was willing to give. I told myself I could tolerate having sex if it would make you happy.” Hanzo’s mouth twisted into a frown and his brows furrowed. “I was wrong. I am sorry, Jesse. I have wasted your time.”

Jesse let out a long, shuddering breath. And then he laughed. Hanzo looked up at him, startled, as Jesse clung to Hanzo and let himself laugh until there were tears in his eyes. Then he leaned down to press his face to Hanzo’s shoulder. This explained so much: Hanzo’s hesitation, his awkward kisses, the way he let Jesse take over the moment Jesse feigned interest.

“I was just tryin’ to do what you wanted,” Jesse managed to say, his voice shaky from both laughter and relief.

“You what?”

“I didn’t wanna do this either. I just missed you so much I wasn’t gonna say no.”

“You are kidding me,” Hanzo said, his tone deadpan. It startled another laugh out of Jesse. Hanzo’s hands found Jesse’s shoulders, and he stepped away. Jesse lifted his head to look him in the eyes. Hanzo seemed somewhat upset still, his brows drawn together with concern and the corners of his mouth downturned. “You were going to have sex with me just because you thought it was what I wanted?”

“It’s not like I _hate_ sex. I just… don’t care for it. Anyhow you were gonna do the same thing.”

Hanzo held up a finger. “That is different.”

Jesse opened his mouth like he was going to argue just to watch the way Hanzo’s face twisted with irritation because they both knew it was, in fact, the same thing. Jesse huffed a laugh, his mouth pulling into a wide smile instead. He would let Hanzo have this one.

“All right, fine. But can I ask something?”

“I suppose so,” Hanzo said warily, probably still anticipating an argument.

“Why'd you agree to date me if you didn't want sex and you thought that I did?”

Hanzo was obviously taken by surprise. The frown dropped away, and his expression was so open that for a moment Jesse felt he was looking at an entirely different person. Hanzo quickly schooled his expression into something thoughtful. “May I be honest with you?”

“I wish you would be.”

Hanzo hesitated before saying, “I agreed because I am selfish.”

“Now that ain’t true,” Jesse reassured, but Hanzo held up a hand to silence him.

“Let me speak. I am selfish. I want things all the time, but I have long since learned to ignore my desires. I make other people’s desires my own instead. Even coming here, I was being selfish. I wanted my brother back, but I told myself that I was only doing this to atone for my past actions.” Hanzo’s face twisted into something unreadable. He paused to breathe and calm down again.

Hanzo glanced up at Jesse as he finally continued, “When you asked me out, I assumed you would expect things from our relationship that I was not prepared to give, but I decided to be selfish and let myself have this, if only for a little while. I was sure you would eventually grow tired of waiting for something that would never happen, and you would end things. And if I was lucky, we would remain friends afterwards. But I liked you too much to say no.”

Jesse lifted a hand to cup the side of Hanzo’s face. His thumb brushed back and forth over Hanzo’s cheek. “And here I was, thinkin’ it was only a matter of time before you got frustrated with me and left. That’s some quality irony right there. This whole time the both of us’ve been worried over nothing.” Jesse chuckled. “We make one hell of a pair.”

“It would seem so,” Hanzo agreed. And as Jesse watched, the tension melted from Hanzo’s body. He’d been completely oblivious to it, but now he saw Hanzo’s shoulders slowly relax and his chest rise and fall where before it had been locked tight. His hands dropped to his sides, and his face went slack. Jesse thought he saw Hanzo’s bottom lip quiver.

“Come here,” Jesse said. He wrapped his arms around Hanzo and tucked him to his chest, his chin resting on the top of Hanzo’s head. He felt Hanzo’s arms slip around his waist and his hands clasp tight at the small of his back.

What happened tonight never should have gone as far as it did. Jesse was so nervous that he hadn’t noticed Hanzo’s discomfort, so obvious in his body language, just like Hanzo hadn’t noticed his. He’d foolishly believed that if something was wrong, Hanzo would tell him—as if Hanzo would ever admit to being uncomfortable. Jesse saw now that he didn’t know Hanzo nearly as well as he should. He promised himself that he would learn.

Jesse let himself relax. He turned his head to press his cheek to Hanzo’s hair and breathed deep. “We’re okay,” he murmured. He shifted his weight side to side, gently rocking them both. “We’re okay.”

They stayed like that for a minute or so before Hanzo leaned back, looking calmer. He cleared his throat and lifted his chin. “You are a terrible host.”

“Excuse me?”

“If you’ll recall, I came in for a drink, which you have yet to provide.”

“Ah.” Jesse gave Hanzo a lopsided smile. “Is whiskey all right?”

“It will do.” Jesse caught the first hint of a smile on Hanzo’s face.

Jesse reluctantly let go of Hanzo to grab a bottle and two glasses from his cabinet. He had a few choices. He hemmed and hawed over which one Hanzo would like better before grabbing a bottle and pouring a couple fingers for each of them.

Hanzo had settled on the edge of Jesse’s bed, looking a little out of place with his hands loosely fisted on his knees. Jesse offered him one of the glasses. “Bourbon whiskey, neat. I got rye and cinnamon whiskey, too, but I figured you’d prefer something a little sweeter.”

“Thank you.” Hanzo took the drink, then patted the bed just to his left.

Jesse settled down close enough that if he let his legs fall open, his thigh pressed against Hanzo’s. Hanzo pushed back, their knees bumping together.

A comfortable silence fell over the room. Jesse cradled his drink in his prosthetic hand and took sips now and then. The bourbon wasn’t his favorite, but it’d been a gift, and he wasn’t one to waste good alcohol. Hanzo seemed happy enough with it, but soon Jesse noticed that he had reached the bottom of his own glass while Hanzo was still nursing nearly a full finger of bourbon.

“You doin’ okay?”

Hanzo nodded slowly.

Jesse settled his glass on his knee. “You don’t look like it.”

“I am merely thinking.” Hanzo fell quiet for a moment. Then he fixed Jesse with a focused look that made him feel inexplicably self-conscious. “Why did you ask me out?”

“That’s easy: because I like you.”

Hanzo’s expression shifted to one of subtle amusement. “You know what I mean. You made the same assumptions I did. You thought I would want sex even though you did not, yet you still asked me. Why?”

Jesse suddenly found his empty glass particularly interesting. “Pros outweighed the cons,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“How romantic.”

Jesse snorted. “Hey now, you got to say your piece, so I get to say mine. Maybe I wasn’t lookin’ for sex, but I liked the idea of having all the other stuff with you.”

“Other stuff?”

“Yeah, you know, getting to hold hands, and hugging and kissing, going out on dates, telling the other person that you love ‘em…”

Jesse lifted his head and caught the look on Hanzo’s face. Anything else he might have said died on his tongue. Hanzo stared at him, eyes wide, mouth slack. So far Jesse had been careful not to tell Hanzo that he loved him, just like he’d been careful not to invite Hanzo into his room until now. Maybe that was cruel, but telling Hanzo he loved him while denying him sex hadn’t felt right to Jesse. It hadn’t felt fair.

There was certainly nothing stopping Jesse now.

Jesse felt heat rise up into his face, and he ducked his head to stare at his glass again. “I mean—you get what I mean, right?” he said lamely.

Hanzo reached over and rested a hand on Jesse’s knee. “I do, yes,” Hanzo said. And then, “Thank you.”

Hanzo pressed a kiss to Jesse’s shoulder. Jesse couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face at the gentle display of affection.

Jesse waited until Hanzo returned to his drink before he slipped his arm around his waist and settled his hand lightly on Hanzo’s hip. Hanzo shifted, resting his weight against Jesse’s side. Jesse quietly reveled in the warmth and closeness.

“You wanna know something?” Jesse said, unprompted.

“I am listening.”

“Getting to hold you like this is my favorite part of bein’ with you.”

"What a coincidence." Hanzo laid a hand over the top of Jesse’s and rested his head against Jesse’s shoulder. “This is my favorite part as well.”


End file.
